His father was one of the company founders, but Erich Postler Jr. began his career with Postler & Jaeckle at the ground level.

Literally. Subterranean, even.

“I started digging ditches when I was in high school, for sanitary and storm piping,” Postler said with a laugh. “I dug myself a hole that I had to climb out of.”

Postler & Jaeckle is a mechanical contractor firm.(Photo: Provided)

He’s done that and then some. Postler is now co-owner and vice president of the South Avenue-based firm in southwest Rochester. The other co-owner is his sister, Elizabeth Howard.

Postler & Jaeckle is a mechanical contractor firm, a field that includes installation, construction and maintenance of plumbing, piping, heating, refrigeration and air conditioning. Some of its biggest customers are the University of Rochester, Cornell University and Wegmans Food Markets. A slew of expansions during the past 15 years has translated to hundreds of customers throughout New York state and northern Pennsylvania.

Erich Postler Sr. started the company with his brother, Werner, and William Jaeckle back in 1964. They had worked in the trade — Erich Sr. and Werner were plumbers — and then bought the assets of another company and set up shop originally in the basement of a home. The move to South Avenue came in the early 1970s.

The company specialized in plumbing at the beginning and then expanded into heating/ventilation/air conditioning, or HVAC. Sheet metal and HVAC service departments were added in the ‘80s and a plumbing service department followed in 2001.

Next came a rapid succession of expansion, with new offices springing up in the areas of Syracuse in 2002, Albany in 2003, northern Pennsylvania in 2005 and Binghamton in 2007. Postler-Jaeckle had opened an office in the Southern Tier in 1990. Those moves were necessary for one big reason.

“We were looking to diversify,” said Dominick Mancini, the company’s chief operating officer. “We had a large customer in Kodak, but that was shrinking.”

The business also includes Karl Postler, a project manager, and Christine Postler-Gorevski, who works in accounting. Those siblings are children of Werner Postler and cousins of Erich Postler Jr. and Elizabeth Howard.

Top Workplaces 2017(Photo: File art)

Postler & Jaeckle made the Democrat and Chronicle’s “Top Workplaces” list this year. The recognition is largely due to the atmosphere, Howard said.

“From the beginning, it’s been a family-type environment here,” she said. “We treat the employees like family.”

“The key is to be able to listen to (employees),” Mancini said.

Adding and retaining quality employees is critical. Postler & Jaeckle works with Alfred State College and Rochester Institute of Technology as co-ops for hiring, and the firm has again gotten more involved with a program known as the Junior Builders Exchange, which provides training.

Alan Morrell is a Rochester-based freelance writer.

Postler & Jaeckle

Founded: 1964.

Location: 615 South Ave., with other offices in Elmira, Chemung County, as well as the Syracuse, Albany, Binghamton areas and in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area of Pennsylvania